In Ghana’s bid to implement inclusive education, there is a need to forge stronger cooperation between special education and mainstream education (Fletcher- Campbell, 1994). Mainstream education teachers can receive much help from special educational needs teachers when there is such cooperation. For example, it will be possible for special educational needs teachers to team up with their counterparts in mainstream education to successfully accommodate children with special educational needs in the regular classroom. Most importantly, there can be better understanding of issues pertaining to services for children with special educational needs. Barriers that may impede achievement can be collectively identifi ed and removed.
Central government, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies should make funding available to schools for logistical and support services. Schools need to
be adequately resourced if they can be successful in accommodating the needs of different ranges of children. Money is needed to purchase equipment such as Braille machines for visually impaired children and hearing aids for children with hearing impairments, and to engage the services of professionals. Without suffi cient funding, access to the curriculum can be diffi cult for certain categories of children with special educational needs and – most importantly – for training resource persons to manage these children.
Furthermore, teachers should be trained on principles and methodologies to accommodate the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs. There may not be the need to have different curricula for different ranges of children, but some curricular adaptations are necessary if children with special educational needs are to have access to the regular school curriculum.
There is a need for the country to encourage the design and/or use of appropriate school curricula. If the school curriculum is fl exible and friendly to the needs of all children, it facilitates adaptation. This suggests that the Curriculum Research and Development Division of the Ghana Education Service should include more information on special educational needs in the curriculum of schools and colleges of education. When prospective teachers are well informed, they will know the measures to adopt to accommodate persons with disabilities.
There is a need to train and involve more health personnel (including audiologists, and speech and language therapists), social workers, psychologists and counsellors to assist in meeting the needs of different ranges of children in regular schools.
Health personnel can assess the health status of children, and also provide information to teachers on best practices. Social workers can liaise with the home, and support parents and professionals in service provision for children. Each of these professionals should be assigned specifi c roles or duties to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
Efforts should be made to encourage active parental involvement. Parents are key stakeholders and their involvement cannot be taken for granted. Gibb, Tunbridge, Chua and Norah (2007) suggest that ”productive collaboration with parents” should be pursued. If parents are actively involved in the education of their children, the children ”achieve more, stay in school longer and engage in school more completely” (Ferguson, 2008).
The assessment practices in the country should be seriously examined to allow for holistic assessment. The present situation, where individual assessors assess and recommend placement, is not suitable to meet the needs of children with special educational needs. The team approach, which involves professionals in health, social services and education (Gyimah, Sugden & Pearson, 2009) can be more helpful as it will reveal hidden diffi culties.
Finally, the physical environment or architecture in most schools should be improved to facilitate access for people with handicaps (Pivic, McComas & LaFlamme, 2002).
CONCLUSION
From the foregoing, it can be concluded that a great deal of preparation, including a strong political will and community participation, is needed to successfully practise inclusive education. Inclusion draws much on the sharing of experiences for it is developmental in nature. While we recognise that the United Kingdom does not yet have all the answers, its legislation on the practice of inclusion can be studied and – where necessary – adapted to improve the education of children with special educational needs and enhance practice.
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